Still haven't seen a slide on ladder diagrams :( ... If you're copying stuff off the internet why not pull up a few more images and make a few more slides and coordinate the graphics to the verbal discussion. This would greatly improve the learning and retention that should be occuring here and improve the take-away data package of what should be a self documenting seminar/course ... Max, the Fagin of Industrial Control (Dickens, Oliver Twist) ...

Very disappointed, much more could have been covered here as this should have been the culmination of much of the previous efforts. Sensors, Actuators, Programming, Vendors and Platforms, numerous application examples and on and on ...

@Max: PLCs are relatively less rugged and not very flexible with I/O config. and this is why they aren't used for RTU (remote teminal unit) applications. DCS on the other hand withstands harsh environment ocnditions. Would you be able to tell us more about this?

In addition to PLC's, CNC, and PID controllers there are also DCS (Distributed Control System), and Motion Control Systems. Again between PLC's, DCS's, and Motion Control systems there is blurring of the edges. But boadly PLC's are relitively quick, and usually used for controlling solenoid valves, relays, and other On/Off Devices, where as DCS's usually controlled slower analog processes.

@Clive: Surely we would not want a case study to degenerate into an ad for any particular manufacturer, but seeing a specific example (or perhaps several examples, with several different manufacturers products) would really clarify how to apply these things. Or include some real-world problems with several candidate solutions using different techniques (and equipment once again from several manufacturers), even if those solutions were never actually deployed anywhere, just to show how it might done.

No -- if you check the archive of Part 1 of this course, you will see that SoC Stands for System-on-Chip -- thsi is a silicon chip that contains one or more processing cores, on-chip memory, peripheral functoions, and all sorts of stuff. An SBC is a single board computer -- this is not to say that you might not have an SoC on an SBC (but that woudl not be common)

I'm pretty novice at this. Thank you Max! I get the big vision on using these controllers for enterprise use. I would love to figure a way to network a series of feedstock feed machines for CNC or 3D printing and create a rapid prototyping environment entirely controlled at the enterprise level by the design-engineers. Literally a "turn-the-lights off and walk away for the evening" operation.

Design in 3D, validate the designs, and then produce an assembled prototype all overnight.

@Mr E. You mentioned that you woudl like me to talk about real case studies -- unfortunately I was told that I had to keep mention of specific companies to a minimum -- the other problem is tha tevery PLC and PAC and SBC is sto different that having a case study with one set of units might not be tremendously relevant with regard to another deployment o renvironment

@Zwilrich - yes I can see there is a wide range of controllers, from simple to more complex. But generally speaking, they contain the primary operator control to the machine. That is, the 'start', 'stop', 'continue' and 'safety' switches. ???

Ah! I heard Max mention case studies. That's what I hoped we would get today - not just overall generalities that we have discussed before, but detailed, specific instances of employing PLCs, PACs, and SBCs to develop some real-world industrial process.

I've used DCS systems for very large process oriented systems and PLCs like Siemens S7-200\300\400 for again very large process oriented systems, and ABs for more local smaller packages, all system have a benfit and will fit almost any application.

@densgt - Fred Eady has had a number of good articles in rcent Nuts & Volts magazines (The Design Cycle column) that discuss the Digilent Chipkit Arduino hardware & software - Pick up a copy of the March 2012 issue to see about the Uno 32 -

@densgt - Take a look at the Chipkit Arduino compatable boards from Digilent - Uses a PIC 32 chip and can be programmed as Arduino or as native PIC 32 - They also have some interesting shields (add-on boards)

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Industrial workplaces are governed by OSHA rules, but this isn’t to say that rules are always followed. While injuries happen on production floors for a variety of reasons, of the top 10 OSHA rules that are most often ignored in industrial settings, two directly involve machine design: lockout/tagout procedures (LO/TO) and machine guarding.

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